The present invention relates to electronic devices and methods of operating the same, and, more particularly, to methods of managing data in electronic devices.
Electronic devices, such as mobile terminals, increasingly provide a variety of communications, multimedia, and/or data processing capabilities. For example, mobile terminals, such as cellphones, personal digital assistants, and/or laptop computers, may provide storage and/or access to data in a wide variety of multimedia formats, including text, pictures, music, and/or video.
However, particularly in mobile terminals, data stored therein can be difficult to manage due to the limited input devices provided by the mobile terminal. In contrast to desktop computers, mobile terminals generally do not include a mouse for manipulating on-screen data using, for example, a drag-and-drop process. Rather, mobile terminals typically rely on a touch screen and/or a keypad for data manipulation. The keypad may include mechanically actuated alphanumeric keys aligned, for example, as in a standard computer keyboard so as to enable conventional typing for entering alphanumeric characters. The touch screen may be a transparent pressure sensitive film that is disposed over a liquid crystal display (LCD) displaying data, virtual buttons, and/or other virtual command selections such as menus, check boxes and lists. Data displayed on the LCD is typically manipulated by applying pressure to the LCD using a hand-held stylus. However, either alternative may present difficulties in selecting and/or manipulating on-screen data.
For example, many mobile terminals, such as cellphones, may be equipped with digital camera functionality. Yet, when an image captured using the digital camera is displayed on the mobile terminal, it may be difficult to select and/or manipulate the displayed image using the keypad. For instance, although particular keys on the keypad may be assigned to specific image manipulation functions, such an interface may not be immediately intuitive to a user. Alternatively, while it may be easier to select the image using a touch screen and/or stylus, it may still be difficult to manipulate and/or store the image. For example, the touch screen interface may require navigation of a series of on-screen menus for image manipulation, which may obscure the displayed image and/or negate the selection.